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Our Betty White-obsessed intern live-blogs his quest for SNL tix

Erstwhile Teen Vogue Features intern and Golden Girls fanatic Alex Rees spent almost 24 hours waiting (mostly) patiently in line for a ticket to last weekend's Betty White-hosted SNL. This is his (live-blogged) story. My...

Erstwhile Teen Vogue Features intern and Golden Girls fanatic Alex Rees spent almost 24 hours waiting (mostly) patiently in line for a ticket to last weekend’s Betty White-hosted SNL. This is his (live-blogged) story. My...

Erstwhile Teen Vogue Features intern and Golden Girls fanatic Alex Rees spent almost 24 hours waiting (mostly) patiently in line for a ticket to last weekend’s Betty White-hosted SNL. This is his (live-blogged) story.

My cell phone ringtone is the Golden Girls theme song. During the winter I sleep in a bright yellow tee with a caricature of the four ladies on the front--it has the slogan "Stay Golden." If I can ever find three friends as obsessed as myself, Halloween costumes are a given.

So when I heard that Betty White’s SNL hosting gig was confirmed, I knew I needed to be there. Which is why I was so readily prepared to wait a whole day in line for the chance of a standby seat for the show. NBC gives out tickets at 7AM sharp on the Saturday morning, though none guarantee admission. It all depends on how much of the audience with confirmed seats shows up on the night--it can range from five lucky standby’s getting in to 35 or even more and most often depends on the host’s popularity. Fans are known to wait in line all night and even days beforehand. --ALEX REES

FRI 9:30AM Preparations are underway. I’ve just taken the longest shower to offset the days worth of grime and dirt that I know are coming, and I’ve packed a pile of bags. I’m taking a full duvet and an air mattress, as well as thick socks and warm sweatpants in case it gets cold. There are rumors of some rain, but I only have a large IKEA bag for a makeshift tent. I’ve got three books, four issues of The New Yorker and two and a half weeks worth of The New York Times to catch up on, as well as of course both my laptop and iPhone so I can whine about my first world hardships to friends prepared to listen. I’ve also packed three bananas and five cereal bars, but just one small bottle of water, because I’m not sure if I’ll be able to leave the line to pee.

FRI 11:10AM I arrive at the entrance to the NBC building on 49th all ready to claim my spot. I’d checked the line out on way home from the Teen Vogue office the previous evening at around 6PM--no people. So, while I was expecting a couple of hardcore fans to have arrived earlier than myself, I was shocked (and upset) to see what looked like 20 people in line already. Maybe I should have got up earlier.